''Aeterne rerum conditor'' (English "Eternal Maker of all") is an early Christian hymn
among those attributed to
Ambrose of Milan
Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...
.
A dawn hymn, the hymn refers to Lucifer, the
Morning Star, Christ, following
2 Peter
2 Peter, also known as the Second Epistle of Peter and abbreviated as 2 Pet., is an epistle of the New Testament written in Koine Greek. It identifies the author as "Simon Peter" (in some translations, 'Simeon' or 'Shimon'), a bondservant and ...
1:19 ''"until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts"''. The hymn, as in the
Vulgate
The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
of 2 Peter, employs the Latin noun "lucifer" to refer to "the Bringer of Light". Lines 15-16 refer to the
denial of Peter
The Denial of Peter (or Peter's Denial) refers to three acts of denial of Jesus by the Apostle Peter as described in all four Gospels of the New Testament.
All four Canonical Gospels state that during Jesus's Last Supper with his disciples, he ...
.
[Charles Kraszewski ''Rossetti’s Armadillo'' 2014 -Now, “Aeterne rerum Conditor” is not merely a hymn of thanksgiving for the return of safety implicit in the gift of the renewing light. It is also a hymn of praise to the Creator, an expression of awe at the beauty of the world that surrounds us, p.50 "The didactic core of “Aeterne rerum Conditor” is not the creative power of God, but rather His inexhaustible capacity for love and forgiveness. In the most recognizable Gallic allusion in the poem, lines 15-16, St. Ambrose has the rooster's crow remind the reader of Peter's breakdown in Caiaphas' courtyard." p.51 ]
The poem is written in the iambic tetrameter metre. The lines form couplets, each couplet having the rhythm ,
u – u – ,
u – u – , ,
u – u – ,
u – u – , .
In the
Roman Breviary
The Roman Breviary (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical Catholic prayer, prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notat ...
of 1632, some small changes were made to the wording in stanzas 2, 3, 7 and 8.
See also
*
Ambrosian hymns
The Ambrosian hymns are a collection of early Christian hymn, hymns of the Latin liturgical rites, whose core of four hymns were by Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century.
The hymns of this core were enriched with another eleven to form the Old Hymn ...
References
4th century in music
Christian hymns in Latin
External links
Further information on the hymn().
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